Psychology Ch. 8

concept

A mental representation of objects, events, or relations around common themes

heuristic

A shortcut (rule of thumb or informal guideline) used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions is called a

functional fixedness

A tendency to think of things based on their usual functions, which may make it harder to solve a problem

IQ

An index of intelligence originally computed by dividing a child's estimated mental age by the child's chronological age, then multiplying this number by 100

decision making

Attempting to select the best alternative among several options is called

Binet-Simon intelligence scale

Binet proposed that intelligence is best understood as a collection of high-level mental processes; the intelligence test was used to measure vocabulary, skill with #'s, and other mental abilities; this became known as the

problem solving

Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal is called

Charles Spearman

General intelligence: The idea that one general factor underlies intelligence

Binet

He developed the IQ and said that intelligence is due to one general factor.

reliability

How consistently a psychometric test produces similar results each time it is used

framing

How information is presented affects how that information is perceived and influences decisions

validity

How well a psychometric test measures what it is intended to measure

work backward

One problem solving technique is to begin from the goal state and _____ _________ to the current state

insight

One problem solving technique is to take a break from actively thinking about a problem, called

subgoals

One problem solving technique is using _________ to identify the goal state and several of these to be achieved.

intelligence

The ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges

stereotypes

These cognitive schemas that allow for quick, easy processing of information about people, events, or groups, based on their membership in that group

mental maps

These include a combination of analogical and symbolical representations.

schemas

These include prior knowledge and experiences and are related to the organization of analogical and symbolic representations in our minds

restructuring

Thinking about a problem in a new way in order to solve it is called

mental manipulation; information; environments

Thinking is the _______ __________ of representations of ___________ we encounter in our ____________.

emotional intelligence

This form of intelligence consists of four abilities: managing our own emotions, using our emotions to guide our thoughts and actions, recognizing other people's emotions, and understanding emotional language

analogical

This is the mental representation that has some of the physical characteristics of objects.

Symbolical

This is the mental representation that is abstract and consists of words or ideas.

availability heuristic

This is the tendency to make a decision based on information that comes most easily to mind

representativeness heuristic

This is the tendency to place people or objects in a category if they are similar to the concept that is the prototype

defining attribute

This is what characterizes something to make it a member of that category

reasoning

Using information to determine if a conclusion is valid or reasonable is called

category; concept

When we use a schema to group things based on shared properties, we create a ________ and a ________.

exemplar

_________ model: all concepts in a category are examples together; ie, if an animal represents a cat, all of your memories, experiences with cats help to identify it as a cat; no single concept is the best member of a category.

prototype

__________ model: "most typical member"; has certain characteristics; more representative of that category; ie an orange is a ___________ of fruit - has seeds, edible, sweet, so items that share these characteristics are also considered fruits

category

a group based on knowledge of shared properties

analogy

identify a previously solved problem that is similar to the current problem

aptitude test

this is designed to test a person's ability to learn—that is, the person's future performance

achievement test

this is designed to test what knowledge and skills a person has learned

intelligence test

this measures general intellectual ability